The Tweedles

Sunday, February 28, 2010

1 month newsletter

Dear Hudson.My sweet little baby, you get your own letter! Today you turn one month old! You are a tiny little boy, but I love you so much! I wondered what it was going to be like to have 2 children and how I could possibly love another child as much as I love Trixie, I knew it would happen, everyone says it does, and you know, it's totally possible. I love you so much. You are so sweet. I can't help but compare you to your sister, you have the same temperament as her when she was a baby, and so I want more children. A friend commented today after watching how mellow you were for a couple of hours that it's no wonder that I want more children, considering how sweet and mellow my children are as babies. I agree. And if you're a toddler like your sister, I'll still want more children.Your birth, while not everything I wanted, was still pretty empowering and I'm so glad that you made the entrance that you did. Your first couple of days and nights at home were interesting. You learned that you can imitate a pterodactyl and that you are voracious. Daddy and I keep trying to apply the parenting model we used with Trixie to you, and you keep reminding us that you are your own person and that you will not always do things like her. We're taking notes and trying to keep up. It's a good thing that you're so patient with us!We've decided to cloth diaper you, and I adore your bulky cloth bum. I've also started to potty train you, much to many people's chagrin. And my little love, you're taking to it! I'll put you on the potty and give you the signal and you try your hardest to go, and many times you do. Hurray! I try not to cheer too loud for you, because it scares you and then you stop peeing. (I learned this the hard way.)You've taken to breast feeding and bottle feeding like a champ, and much like your Daddy you are a little boob man. You seem to love to breast feed, even if there's nothing there, you're happy to just comfort suck. I think you're going to have blond hair and blue eyes and I am so happy that you have a little dimple in your chin. You love to be held and prefer Mama over everyone else. You love baths and will float with nary a peep out of you. You are an excellent sleeper, but you're a night owl, choosing late evening to be your super alert time, and you sleep away the whole morning and much of the afternoon. Today I noticed that you flashed me an intentional smile and it was so beautiful. I can't wait to see more of them!All in all, you're an amazing baby and while you've only been here a month, I can't believe how in love I am with you. I'm such a lucky Mama.I love you sweet boy!Love,Mama.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

24 month newsletter

Dearest Trixie.Today you turned 2 years told! When I asked you this morning what today was you replied "Cake day!", so I asked again and you told me "Happy Happy cake day!" So yes my sweet girl, today was cake day, and we had delicious (guava) cake to celebrate your Happy Happy day.2 years ago today you made me so happy by finally being born and turning me into a Mama, which has been the most gratifying transformation I could have ever asked for. I love being your Mama more than anything else ever! The past two years have been most amazing, and your Daddy and I have grown a lot and learned a lot about ourselves and who we were, who we are and who we're going to be. There have been a lot of changes in our lives. We've gone from a married couple to a family, and we bought our first home and now the most amazing, your Daddy is finally agreeing to sell his very non family friendly car so we can buy something that you can ride in legally! Hurray!Now, while the past two years have changed life dramatically for your Daddy and I, the past month has changed everything for you! Nearly a month ago your baby brother, Hudson, was born, rendering you a big sister! Good thing you've taken to that role like the proverbial fish to water. You love your little brother, so much so that Daddy and I have to be careful and watch you closley to make sure you don't love him too hard. You ask constantly to hold him,kiss him, hug him and touch him. You share your toys with him and are quick to tell me that he's crying when he's upset, then you'll tell him: "it's okay baby, Mama knows, it's okay." You insist his name is Trixie's Baby and not Hudson, although sometimes you'll say that his name is Hudson and Trixie's Baby. You really are a great big sister and it makes me want to have many more children knowing that you'll be okay with it.This month we bought you a trike and while you can't yet reach the pedals yet you will sit on it and walk it along with your feet, kind of like you would with a balance bike, and you can really get going with it like this. We are making sure you are safe and you always wear your helmet, which tickles you to no end. You love wearing your helmet, and sometimes you just want to wear it, even if we're not going out on your trike!Physically you continue to fine tune your skills. You're able to jump with both feet, and we're working on standing on one foot. I often find you doing a tree pose (from yoga), complete by standing on one foot. I'm so proud that you can do this! You've also been working on your sommersault too, but please sweet girl, don't do them off of the couch. You'll get an ouchie. I remind you of this a couple times a day. You can walk up and down stairs on your own, although you will ask for "up down" when Daddy or I are walking with you, which means that you want us to carry you. Generally you're okay with me telling you I can't, but sometimes you need me to. I guess you need the comfort, and I'll oblige. However if I am carrying Hudson you'll have to be happy with being carried like a football. Your eating is the same, sporadic. I've realized that you're a social eater and apparently Mama isn't enough for you to eat infront of, you need a whole audience to tell you what a good eater you are. Pottying on the otherhand, you like to do in private. I'm glad to see that somethings are just naturally straight in your mind!Your language skills are ever increasing. I find you often speaking to me in sentances and somehow you'll remember words and suprise me with them a few days later. You've started to sing, and have gone from singing tuneless, wordless songs to singing real songs. So far you favour Happy Birthday to you, Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald and DoReMi. I love to listen to you sing. So we sing a lot. You warble like the most beautiful song bird....I think you're starting to develop some fashion sense, and by fashion sense I mean you demand "pretty dress" nearly every day. Thankfully you're happy with any dress I pull out and I have outfitted your wardrobe with a lot of sturdy play dresses, many compete with leggings. You still love shoes and will ask for "pretty shoes" or more often boots, especially your rain boots. Your hair is getting so long that it's always in your eyes and you will let me clip it back with a hair clip, but sometimes you're a little naughty and pull it out, but you can seem to get it back in, try as you might. While I do love you in pig tails, I'm too picky and don't like it when they start to fall out, so I don't put them in your hair that often, because I constantly am redoing them to make them perfect. It's an issue I have, I'll work on it.I've learned that you're a little bit of an imp in the house. You're growing so fast that I don't realize how far onto the counters you can reach and I keep forgetting to move things further back on the coutners so you can't reach them. Although you being the smart imp you are, will push the step stool up to the counter and reach what you want. It's good incentive for me to start keeping the counters clear so you can't get into anything. Your favourite pasttime is still colouring. You also still love stickers and will colour and stick for a good long time. You still love your baby dolls and have started to breastfeed them, wrap them and coo to them like I do to your brother, whereas before you just put them to bed and gave them bottles. You also love your cars and blocks. I love that you don't seem to care what gender toys are meant for, if you like them, you'll play with them. Trixie darlin' I think you're a pretty amazing toddler. I can't wait to see what the upcoming months hold for us. I love you so much!Love,Mama.